Swim was abysmal. I had done one open water swim session in my training, and should have done more. I wasn't able to catch my breath the entire swim, and could only keep up my freestyle stroke for a short period before having to roll on my back and try to breathe. Just awful. Granted, I had never swam a proper stroke or complete lap of a pool before a couple months ago, but I thought I'd do better than this.

More open water training.

I had practiced my transitions, and boy am I glad I did. Made for a much better experience, and definitely helped make up for my swim performance and got me back in the groove. I had run through both transitions dozens of times in my head as well, which made it all flow a lot smoother. This was my first tri, and I had the seventh fastest T1 in my age group.

Practice makes perfect!

Other than being pretty wasted by my swim, the bike went great. Again, practicing my mount and dismount with shoes attached made a world of difference. Also, I've had trouble in competition settings remembering to drink on the bike, so I made a mental note to drink during several specific points on the course so I couldn't forget. Worked well.

My feet were pretty gunked up from the run through the transition area, so I gave them a quick rinse before putting on my socks (I gotta for running) which made that harder. Otherwise, all good, could just be faster with more practice.

Maybe wipe feet off on my towel instead of rinsing them - easier to get socks on and drier feet for the run.

About three months ago, I hadn't run in years. Last year I had surgery to replace a torn ACL and didn't feel like I'd ever run again without a mugger or large jungle cat involved, to be honest. So I'm pretty thrilled to be competitive in the run AT ALL. The hill at the end is a real kick in the ass, but it's a short course, so it's pretty hard to complain. Great volunteers showing the way with all the myriad turns.

Was pretty fried at the end, so mostly just some walking around.


Terrible swim performance, lack of muggers or large jungle cats on the run.


This is far and away the greatest triathlon I have ever participated in. Additionally, this is the first triathlon I have ever participated in. But pretty great nonetheless.